An former Illinois politician has been charged with using both personal and state-owned computers to trade hundreds of pictures and videos depicting child pornography, and engaging in online chats with others to brag about molesting children as young as six.

State Rep. Keith Farnham, 66, resigned abruptly in March, citing health concerns, but apparently his computer was seized from his state office by the authorities the week before, so dude had to know what was up. They found two videos on that computer of children, along with chat records including messages like, "12 is about as old as i can handle ... i love them at 6 7 8."

I can't even handle the sick. Perhaps the most disturbing part of this is the fact that Farnham has twice co-sponsored bills in the House to combat child pornography by making the penalties tougher. I wonder if the same government computer that had the videos was used to go over that legislation?

Did he not think it would apply to him? Was he trying to cover his tracks? Who knows, but it's scary to think that someone who is supposed to be a leader and role model is engaging in such a despicable manner. We trust public servants more than the average citizen, and you know, I think it's just commonly understood that they're not supposed to be using government property to commit vile acts against children! Or committing any criminal acts against children. Or anyone else, for that matter. I guess some people need it spelled out.

Farnham was the guy no one suspected of a crime this heinous. He was a Navy vet before running for office in 2009, and those who know him were shocked to hear of the charges. Rep. Mary Flowers is holding out hope that she won't have to accept it, saying, "I don’t want to cast him off as being guilty until he’s been found guilty," and Ed Schock, another politician who worked closely with Farnham said it was "almost beyond comprehension."

Homeland security agents started investigating after getting a tip from the Cyber Crimes Center about an email address being used to trade child pornography, and chat online about sexual preferences. Authorities were eventually able to trace it to Farnham's home Comcast account.

If convicted, he faces up to ten years in prison, which hardly seems like enough, until you consider the reception that's likely to await him. Prisoners notoriously consider child abusers the lowest of the low. After all, a lot of those guys have kids on the outside, and they are not pleased with people that might hurt them.